Decataur Gibson Byrd was born and raised in 1923 in Tulsa, OK where he attended Central High School and was in the first graduating class of Will Rogers High. Byrd went on to serve in WWII as a B-17 engineer and turret gunner, but after the war he obtained his B.A. from the University of Tulsa and his M.A. from the University of Iowa. After graduating with his masters of art, he taught at Central High School, was later appointed Director of the Kalamazoo Art Center, and in 1955 joined the art faculty at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. D.G. Byrd is best known for his influence as an educator within the art community as well as a vocal art advocate for social fairness and justice. He was a master of coloristic subtleties, and his Wisconsin landscapes explored human loneliness and isolation that seemingly blurred the landscape as memory and the landscape as an experience. Byrd also explored interior scenes and portraits, all with the same aura of unease. His focus often shifted to his Shawanee heritage, exploring the landscape and self. After retiring due to Parkinsons disease, Byrd and his wife moved to California where he later died on April 16th, 2002 in Del Mar.